Combined container closure and applicator



Aug. 13, 1935. B. s. 'THORP 2,011,545

COMBINED CONTAINER CLOSURE AND APPLICATOR Filed May i, 1935 9 i 3 MIV lWz , INVENTOR WQQZQVM ATTORNEYS I a degree to prevent evaporation of, orexposure Patented Aug. 13, 1935 UNITED sT-AT s This invention relates tocombined container closure and applicator devices. The invention is moreparticularly applicable to containers'such as bottles of the type forcontaining liquids such i as mercurochrome, iodine, collodion and the.

like, which are to be dispensed by means of an applicator such as abrush or glass rod projecting downwardly into the liquid.

In such devices it is desirable that the closure perform the function ofclosing the container to tothe air, of the contents, and that it alsoprovide supporting means for the applicator which extends into thecontainer and is immersed in the 1 liquid. i

It is customary to employ for this purpose a closure in the form of acap made of suitable synthetic plastic products, such as bakelite, hardrubber, etc., the cap being provided with a depending skirt internallythreaded or grooved for attachment to the container. In order to preventseepage of the liquid it'is highly desirable that the cap be providedwith a gasket for interposition between the cap andthe rim of thecontainer. Also, the capmust. be ..provided.with some appropriate meansfor' affixing the applicator thereto.

Both of these requirements have introduced serious difficulties in theprovision of a simple, economical and commercially feasible combinedcontainer closure and applicator device, The gasket, owing to itsnecessarily flexible composition and the cementing action of various ofthe ,contained fluids, tends in .use to adhere to the neck of thecontainer'and to pull away from the cap. Attempts to avoid this bycementing the gasket tothe cap have not proved very successful be causeno satisfactory adhesive has as yet been devised whichwill provide apermanent bond between the gasket and the cap, particularly if thelatter is made of such a substance as bakelite. Moreover, many of the1iquids,forv which combined containers and applicators of the generaltype are primarily intended, include as an essential' ingredient such auniversal solvent as ether or chloroform, which will destroy the bondprovided by most cements.

. Similarly, the applicator stem being usually of glass or feather quillcannot successfully be cemented to a cap of the composition aforesaid;

and if attached. by knownmethods tothe gas ket in accordance with knownpractices, will increase the tendency of the gasket to separate from thecap. I

According to my invention, I overcome these defects in a simple andhighly efficacious manher by providing the cap with, aninternally'depending central stud or peg integral with the cap. As ameans of securing the applicator to the cap and also serving as a gasketbetween the cap and container, I further provide ai'flexible member, ofrubber or the like, which is* of-"'sub= stantiallycylindrical contourbut terminating at one end in a radially projecting flange. Each end ofthis member contains a central bore: extending axially inward to anintermediate depth leaving thereby an impervious transverse wall at thematerial between the two bores.

The bore adjacent the flanged end of themem her is adapted to slip overwhile tightly gripping the cap peg until the flange is flush. with theinner surface at the top 'of' the cap; The outer diameter of the flangeis such as likewise to engage the inner diameter of the cap ma snug fit.The flange thus serves" as a gasketbe tween the cap and the container,whichl'owmg to the gripping action aforesaid, will be retained inintegral assembly with the cap'lwithout the necessity for cementing thetwo, 'although'an ad hesive may be employed if desired.

The'opposite bore "of the'fiexible 'memberis such as to receive theupper end of the applicator stem in a snug fit'. If, therefore, anattempt/sis made to pull thestem away'from'the capthe flexible member instretching willgrip 'boththe stem and the cap stud even moretightly'an'd thereby prevent separation of the' assembly. Moreover, thetransverse wall interposed between the twobores will preclude seepageofthe contained fluid between the flexible flange and the cap such aswould dissolve an adhesive if employed or otherwise tend to' separatethe two.

In' the drawing:-

Fig. 1 is a cross sectional View in "elevation showing certain detailsof the device;' 1-;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation with ertainparts in section andillustrates the device in its intended position when used in closing abottle-and Fig. Bis a cross sectional view taken at I- I of Fig. 1.Referring to the drawing: The numeral l designates a cap which is moldedof a synthetic plastic material or the like or other suitable material,such as hard rubber. The cap is provided with a top wall 2 and adepending. skirt-,3,

interiorly threaded as at 4 to providesuitable I that when its upperface lies in' contact with the inner face of the top wall 2, itsperipheral edge is in contact with the inside wall of the skirt 3, andthe stud it! being of a lesser diameter, than v to securethe connectingmember 8 in the posi-- tion illustrated. Likewise, the bore l2 similarlyprovides a socket portion into which the, upper end of a suitableapplicator I4 is positioned, and is thereby-resiliently gripped so as tosecure. the applicator to connector 8 and thereby to thecap i. In theembodiment illustrated, the applicator is of thequill andbrushtype, andit :will be understood that any well known form of applicator may beused, such for example as a glass rod.

The wall l3 separating the bores II and I2 pre- I vents any seepage ofthe liquid (such as might flow toward the upper end of the applicator Mwhen in inverted position) into the bore ll,'and hence assures that evenshould the liquid seep past the tightly fitting inner wall of the lowersocket portion and the applicator rod, nevertheless the tight resilientgripping action exerted by the upper socket portion on the peg 1 will bemaintained.- I

It is also to be noted that by making the member 8 of a diametersubstantially less than the inner diameter of the neck ofthe bottle Ieliminate any sticking, of, the connector to the neck,

such as is inevitably usually existing in such devices fromliquidadhering to the usual form of stopper which fits theneck fairlysnugly. Any adhesion which might bepresent from suchliquid as comes intocontact with the limited area of the flange 9 as is in contact with theupperlip of the bottle is not sufficientto causethe connector to bewithdrawn from thepeg I. Inthis connection it is pointed out that thegripping action exerted between the peg 1 and the socket into which itis positioned is similar to that of arubber tube tightly fitting over aplug. or rod, and the stretched condition of, the tubularwallssurrounding the peg I is such as to furnish an extremely strongconnecting means. This gripping action is somewhat further enhanced atthe portion adjacent the top wall 2 by means of the engagement betweenthe outer peripheral edge of the flange 9 and the inner adjacent surfaceof the skirt 3. Similarly, when in use the gripping action of the lowersocket portion on the upper end of the applicator I4 is such that anyforce exertedagainst the lower end of the applicator tending to pull thesame out of its engaging socket merely tends to stretch the socketportions axially and thereby increase the gripping action'both on thepeg I and the end of the applicator l4. r a 7 Having thus described myinvention with particularity with reference to its preferred form, itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding myinvention, that other changes and modifications may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scopeof my invention, andI aim' inthe appended claims to cover such changes and modifications as arewithin the scope of the'invention. What I claim is:

1. In a combined container closure and applicator; the combination of acap having a top wall provided with 'a depending skirt portion forengaging said container anda peg extending down-i wardly from said topwall and positioned within said skirt, a connecting member positionedwithin said skirt and provided at its upper end with a first socketportion providing means for securing 7 said connecting member to saidpeg and at its provided with a depending skirt portion for engaging saidcontainer and a peg extending down wardly from said top wall andpositioned within said skirt; an elastic connecting member positionedwithin said skirt and provided at its upper end with a} first socketportion in resilient frictional engagement with said peg and at itslower end with a second socket portion, thebores of said socket portionsbeing discontinuous axially of said connecting member and beingseparated by an imperforate wall portion, an applicator resilientlyfrictionally held in said second socket portion.

3. In a combined containerclosure and applicator, the combination of acap having a top wall provided with a depending skirt portion forexteriorly engaging the neck of said container and a peg extendingdownwardly from said top wall and positioned within said skirt, anelastic member Within said skirt, said member having an upper outwardlyextending flange and an integrally depending central stud portion of alesser diameter than the internal diameter of the neck of said containerand bores extending axially inwardly from respective ends of said memberwith an imperforate wall separating the adjacent inner ends of saidbores, said member being seated with its flange against the inner faceof the top wall of said cap and being held in position by the resilientfrictional engagement of said Ipeg positioned within said top bore, andan applicator held in position by the resilient frictional engagement ofits upper end within said lower bore of said member. a

14. In a combined container closure and applicator, the combination of acap having a top wall provided with a depending skirt portion forexteriorly engaging the neck of said container and a peg extendingdownwardly from said top wall and positioned within said skirt, anelastic member within saidskirt, said member having an upper outwardlyextending flange adapted to overlie the mouthof said container and anintegrally depending central stud portion of a lesser diameter than theinternal diameter of the neck of said container and bores extendingaxially inwardly from respective ends of said member with an imperforatewallseparating the adjacent inner ends ofsaid bores, said member beingseated with the'upper face of its flange against the inner face of thetop wall of said cap andthe peripheral edge ofsaid flange in contactwith the inside wall of said skirt and said peg being positioned withinsaid top bore, whereby said member is held in position within said capby resilient frictional engagement, and an applicator held in positionby theresilient frictional engagement of its upper end within said lowerbore of said member.

BENJAMIN 'S. 'I'I-IORP.

